Following the introduction of Chinese troops the previous fall, the Korean War reaches its climax as US and Chinese troops battle it out for control of Seoul. The US wins and is in prime position to re-invade the North. But when brilliant but chronically insubordinate US general Douglas MacArthur begins lobbying for the use of nuclear weapons on Chinese airbases, he is relieved of command by President Truman. The plan to invade the North again is called off and the conflict falls into stalemate, with only limited and sporadic fighting around the 38th parallel until the signing of the armistice in 1953.

A woman named Henrietta Lacks undergoes an operation at John Hopkins Hospital to remove a cervical cancer. Unfortunately, the cancer has already metastasized and she passes away, but cells removed from the tumor turn out to have an unknown mutation which prevents them from aging, creating an immortal line of human cells, HeLa cells, which are still used in research to this day.